George H.W. Bush: “And they're just so unfair and so grossly wrong that I can think of no other answer than it goes with the territory. I…”

“And they're just so unfair and so grossly wrong that I can think of no other answer than it goes with the territory. I really believe that. I see the guy every day in action. He asks the tough questions. And I ask him--I challenge him on things inside. And I could ask for no more loyal supporter in that job than Dan Quayle. So, I can't explain it. But you know, I'll tell you something. After I had a little fibrillation cum thyroid, there was kind of a--there was a piling on. Any fair-minded American knows that. Might have been a joke; might have been a hype in these news magazines--regrettably, some of them going more to the gossip, the little squibs in the front. And yet there was a reaction, I think. The American people are saying enough is enough. Look at the guy on the merits. And I'm confident when all look at him on the merits, they'll see what I see. So, I enjoy defending him because I know I'm right. I see him in action. Jay Leno doesn't; he needs a laugh in 1991, just like he needed one off of me in 1987. It took me a while, incidentally, as Vice President to get used to it. Then they were saying to me, hey, he's spelling B-U-S-H right, so why not let him fire away. [Laughter] You can't do anything about it anyway.”